Hearing Planned on Impact Study of Rehoboth Ocean Outfall Pipe

REHOBOTH BEACH, Del. - The city of Rehoboth Beach is moving forward with plans to dump its treated wastewater into the Atlantic Ocean.

A public hearing is scheduled for Tuesday to discuss a draft environmental study of a proposed ocean outfall pipe. While the city-funded study found the pipe would have little impact on the water, the business community is concerned about misperceptions by the public, specifically beach visitors.

"There was never a question of the safety of the water that was going to be released. We all agreed that the water was very safe," said Carol Everhart, Chamber of Commerce president. "Our job is going to be to make sure that everyone gets the right idea about this water, knows that it's safe and that there's no misperception about the safety of this water."

Everhart said image is important in the tourism business and Rehoboth prides itself on clean beaches.

The city agreed to stop dumping its treated wastewater into the Lewes & Rehoboth Canal by the end of 2014 to reduce nutrient levels in Delaware's Inland Bays.

In 2009, city commissioners unanimously chose the outfall pipe over another method called land application - or spraying the water on agricultural land to irrigate crops - citing minimal maintenance and cheaper costs of the pipe. The outfall is expected to cost $30 million; land application was priced at $54 million. Neither was considered superior of the other in terms of environmental impact.

"You get a different set of issues with land application," said Rehoboth Beach mayor Sam Cooper. "The takeaway is there's no significant impact to the ocean [with the ocean outfall]."

The chamber of commerce supported the land application method on behalf of businesses citing concerns over misperceptions, not safety of the water.

"The only concern was over the perception," Everhart said. "As long as we get the word out there that the water is certainly safe and it's not going to impact our wonderful water quality that we currently have."

The environmental study found the pipe would have minimal impact on water quality or marine life in the long term. The outfall would travel approximately 6,000 feet into the ocean near a strip of beach north of the city. Similar pipes are already in operation in Ocean City, Md. and South Bethany, Del.

The secretary of the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control will get the final say on the project. The city hopes to receive approval by August or September to begin designing the project.

The public hearing is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Tuesday, April 10, at the Rehoboth Beach Convention Center.